Tuesday, June 28, 2011

We got a call from COH on 6/16/2011 they wanted to see Marco, to give him his test results.

First appointment given was for 7/7/2011 but Marco couldn't wait so I told him to call and ask for a sooner appointment so they gave it to him on 6/16/2011 at 4:30pm.

Happy to report that it was a 50/50 kind of result....first the surgery area looks great, no recurrence and nothing on his right leg either, so excited about that.

But they did find a nodule in his right lung...they are not sure what it is, they will be keeping an eye on it and will take another CT Scan and MRI in 3 months.

Dr. Trisal didn't seem to be to concerned about it right now, but he did say they will keep an eye on it. So we will have to watch Marco and if anything different starts to come up we need to call them right away.

So for now he is to enjoy and forget about the nodule for the next 3 months.

Had a couple of happy tears to hear the good news of NED (No Evidence of Disease)

Our New Blog

What is Soft-Tissue Sarcoma?

Soft tissue sarcomas are cancerous tumors that originate in the soft tissues of the body.

These tissues include muscle, fat, blood vessels, nerves, tendons and the lining of the joints. Marco's sarcoma started off as a tumor in his calf muscle in December 2007. The tumor was surgically removed, then treated with radiation.

The cancer later spread to his lung area, the tumors were also surgically removed, his body treated with chemo. He had three more tumors in his lungs, which they tried to shrink down with chemo.

Doctors had ruled out any more surgeries after chemo but they finally agreed.

On March 15, 2010 they removed the three tumors from his lungs, a section of the lung and diaphragm and three sections of ribs. Marco was in intensive care for over a week fighting an infection.

A CT scan showed worrisome signs that the cancer was back and it was confirmed with a PET scan.

Marco went through the maximum number of chemos to try to shrink that tumor. The tumor was not being responsive to the chemo in the shoulder area and there was a new tumor discovered near the aorta that was showing some response.

On Jan 15, 2011 Marco started 6 weeks of radiation aimed at his chest area, 5 days a week 30 min a day before surgery options were put on the table again.

After much debate, surgery was completed March 28, 2011. Marco underwent a painful recovery at home, only to discover over the Labor Day weekend that the sarcoma has spread to his brain.

Marco had brain surgery September 2011 to have the brain tumor removed. He also completed radiation to the operated area. On October 2011, Marco exhausted all of his treatment options at City of Hope. Marco entered home hospice care.

On March 3, 2012, Marco passed away at home surrounded by his family. You can read the posts and archive to read his story.